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Committees of Correspondence
Inspired by Mike Stearns' scheme of launching the American Revolution "150 years early", the Committees of Correspondence, based on the original organized bodies from the revolution, are one of the first institutions influencing European thought and the neo-historical developments. Headed by Gretchen Richter, the Committees start from a seed population in Jena that was planted in 1632 even as the Americans march to their second deliberate battle in defense of a community of Greater Thuringia, Germany. These committees spread throughout Europe, playing a large role in the liberation of Hamburg in 1634. The Committees were, in general, advocates of up-time notions of public health and sanitation. In areas where the local Committee was strong, actions such as dumping a chamberpot on the street could lead to a beating from CoC "enforcers". Furthermore, a special CoC unit created by one of the central organizers of the CoC, Gunther Achterhof, was assigned to protect important individuals such as Mike Stearns and Admiral John Simpson from assassinations.1634: The Baltic War, Ch. 5 In the abstract, the Committees were seen with fear by the European nobility. However, the Committees in some outlying areas were small and largely ineffectual. For example, the Committee in Venice was essentially the extended Marcoli family and their slow-witted handyman Marius Pontigrazzi. In 1635, in the wake of the "Dreeson Incident", the CoC was influential in eradicating anti-Semitism in the United States of Europe during Operation Kristallnacht. This eradication led to the CoC to becoming more powerful in some regions of the USE. Meeting places The usual meeting place for a local Committee of Correspondence was the Freedom Arches, which began in 1633 when Gretchen Richter managed to get the former McDonald's in Grantville turned over to the Committees of Correspondence. While Freedom Arches spread along with the growth of the Committees, and were closely identified with them, there were places where the local Committee was too small to support one and/or needed to keep a low profile. In these places, the local Committee, such as it was, often met in a tavern owned or operated by one of the members. National Headquarters In mid-1634, the new Central Freedom Arches were open in October 7th Avenue in Magdeburg, next door to Magdeburg's original Freedom Arches (which was still operational and still resembled a tavern). Melissa Mailey described it as cross between Chateau d'If and the Lubyanka, and sarcastically wondered if the architect had been "Frank Lloyd Rack" or "Mies van der Thumbscrews". In fact, the building was designed by one of the municipal architects under orders of Magdeburg's mayor Otto Gericke, who considered the CoC to be stabilizing force and a force for good in the city, largely due to the effects of their patrols on the crime and dicease rates, and decided that it was in the city's best interest to give them institutional validity and help them feel secure. It had two floors and a basement. The second floor included most of the smaller meeting rooms and the offices of the local (Magdeburg city), regional (Magdeburg province) and national CoC. The first floor included a big assembly hall and the offices of various organizations affiliated with the CoC, such as the city's trade unions, the regional and national trade union federations, the sanitation commission, credit unions, life and health insurance cooperatives and the employment insurance cooperative. The building's basement was a huge tavern that operated as a social and political center.1635: The Eastern Front Ch.9 Members *Andrew Yost *Gretchen Richter - Leader of the CoC *Joachim von Thierbach (Spartacus) *Gunther Achterhof *Hannelore Achterhof *Hubert Amsel *Otto Artmann *Richard Donner Leader of Mainz CoC and Tata's father *Agathe Donner aka Tata *Karsten Eichel *Jenny Geddes *Eduard Gottschalk *Ludwig Heidbreder *Franz Heidbreder *Friedrich Heidbreder *Moritz Heidbreder *Agnes Heidbreder *Chip Jenkins *Galiena Kirsch *Tadeusz Szklenski *Waclaw Walczak - Leader of the Polish CoC contingent in Dresden *Mathilde Wiegert *David Zimmermann References Category:1632 institutions